The Constellation of Our Hearts
by Homura Bakura
Summary: [complete] "We've drawn this constellation between us, hoping that one day, it will let us remember all the times we've been together." - a collection of oneshots for Starshipping Week
1. Summer Stars

_BEND low again, night of summer stars._

 _So near you are, sky of summer stars,_

 _So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,_

 _Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,_

 _So near you are, summer stars,_

 _So near, strumming, strumming,_

 _So lazy and hum-strumming._

-Carl Sandburg

"I have dragon blood in my family, you know," the boy with the brown hair says. "My grandfather says so."

The dragon lets out a long sigh, letting out a plume of smoke between his lips.

"Everyone's grandfather says that," he says, but it is not a retort, only a statement of fact.

The dragon twists its head around to where the boy sits, nestled beneath one silvery wing. Well, perhaps he is more than a boy. It is hard to tell, when one is thousands of years old.

He is tired, the dragon thinks. It is hot out tonight, and the stars hang low and hazy in the heat. Even the night couldn't drive it away.

The human boy balances his stringed instrument on his knees but does not play. The strings are snapped and the bow is broken. His head leans back against the dragon's scales—they are cool under his head. Even in the shadow of the dragon's wing, there is a faint, shimmery coolness under here, as though he is enveloped by the stars themselves.

"Do you have any songs you could teach me?" he asks.

"Many," the dragon says, but he does not sing any of them, and the boy does not ask him to.

The dragon curls his head around to meet his tail so that he is encircling the boy. The boy kicks his legs back and forth from where he perches on the dragon's hind leg. The dragon can watch him with one eye from her. Can count the bruises on his face and the tears in his pants with the blood that stains the edges. The tip of his tail twitches with anger.

"You are safe here," the dragons says.

The boy smiles, a wide, winning smile that does nothing to hide the anxieties that swirl underneath.

"I know," he says.

His legs kick back and forth, back and forth. One hand presses against the dragon's scales, and there is a coolness that spreads through his body from the touch. It tames the fire that roils in his belly, lets it fade to a soft hum. The night is not so oppressive anymore.

The boy traces the dragon's scales under his finger. They are so cool, he thinks. Like touching the water of a river, despite the fire that he knows is within it. Despite the flames that he knows that the dragon can unleash, the fire that he saw licking at the heels of the fleeing bandits, leaving him behind, in pain and cowering as the dragon's wings cupped above him.

"Tell me your name?" the boy whispers.

The dragon hums.

"You couldn't pronounce it," he says.

"Tell me anyway."

The dragon eyes him with one large, azure eye, a color that rivals the summer sky above.

"A name for a name," he says. "That is how dragons have always done with each other."

The boy looks up from memorizing the flakes of the dragon's scales. He stares at the dragon for just a moment. He knows what the dragon means.

"Dragon to dragon?" he whispers.

The question that is not asked rings in the spaces between his words. 'Am I a dragon after all?' 'That is why they tried to take me, isn't it.'

The bruises on his face and the cuts on his skin will heal. They will heal quickly, even.

Young dragons always have. They have to. The world so often knows that they are dragons before they themselves do.

"Dragon to dragon," the dragon says, lifting his head and tilting his nose close to the boy's face.

The boy hesitates, looking into each of the dragon's eyes.

"Judai," he whispers.

The dragon nods. He tilts his head down, and then, in return, he hums his name to the boy in return for a name. The boy's eyes widened at the sound—it is a beautiful thing, the dragon remembers, to hear your real language for the first time.

He finishes humming his name, and the crickets take back the silence. The boy stares at him for a moment.

"Yusei," he mumbles.

The dragon cocks his head. The boy smiles.

"That was the only part I could hear," the boy says. "Your name is Yusei."

The dragon blows out through his fangs to ruffle the boy's hair. The boy laughs and falls against his side, almost sliding off of his leg. And then, he does drop to the ground, because the dragon is behind him now, and smaller, and—a different shape entirely. He holds the boy's shoulders lightly, with human-dragon hands. The boy tilts his head back to see the other boy that stares down at him. He doesn't look older than himself.

His hands are just as cool to the touch, and his eyes just as deep a blue, his hair as dark and raven as his scales had been.

The dragon thinks that perhaps the boy isn't such a boy after all. But then again, the dragon is still older than he is. There is still a youth in the boy's round brown eyes.

"Yusei," he agrees, looking down at the boy with a human-dragon face. "I am Yusei. And you are Judai. A name for a name."

Judai smiles.

It has been a long time since the dragon has found another young dragon to take beneath his wing.

* * *

 _Name for a name, with the stars as witness._

 _The first time we met, you saved my life._

 _The second time, I'll try to return the favor._


	2. Lost Star

_When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first  
splendor, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang  
`Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'_

 _But one cried of a sudden_  
 _-`It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light_  
 _and one of the stars has been lost.'_

 _The golden string of their harp snapped,_  
 _their song stopped, and they cried in dismay_  
 _-`Yes, that lost star was the best,_  
 _she was the glory of all heavens!'_

 _From that day the search is unceasing for her,_  
 _and the cry goes on from one to the other_  
 _that in her the world has lost its one joy!_

 _Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile_  
 _and whisper among themselves_  
 _-`Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'_

-Rabindranath Tagore

He couldn't see the stars overhead—you never could anymore—but he knew they were there. Yusei peered out through the hole in the building beside him to night sky. It seemed to hang closer than it should, more of a smoky brown than its natural velvet, and completely star-less. He coughed once, and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. There was no time for that, he couldn't be coughing up smoke here. They might find him if he made too much noise.

He pressed his back into the wall. All he wanted to do was close his eyes, sleep. But that wasn't an option—not here. Not in this city. The Lighteaters stalked the streets night and day, seeking the lives of those who still clung to the memory of the stars.

Ten years before, this city had been a beacon of light, hope, and justice. A hub of trade, an attractor of scholars and learned people who wished to share the knowledge of both humanity and of the gods. The Starkeepers had been a beautiful order, once. Protecting and defending knowledge and community. Giving people a place where everyone could be equal and safe, defending the one true neutral city-state in the kingdom.

That was before the gods had disappeared, and the Lighteaters descended.

Yusei's hand slid up his chest to the stone around his neck—as far as he knew, he was the last one. He was the last one with a starstone—the last Starkeeper.

 _I'm not even fully trained,_ he thought bleakly. _I don't...I don't have enough power._

He fought back the tears in his eyes as he remembered the children, the youngest of the initiates—he hadn't been able to protect them. Not a single one. He knew that if he was allowed to sleep the nightmare of the Lighteaters ravaging through the sanctuary would take hold of him.

Something clicked outside. He stiffened up, pressed against the wall. That had sounded like talons—the sound of a Nighteater with its light, clawed step, its heavy tail just barely dragging across the ground behind it. Yusei's heart was in his throat. They would find him, he knew. They would take his starstone, take all the knowledge and memory that was stored in it, and they would destroy it. His order and the history of his entire people would be _lost_.

"I still say the bastard's fucked off by now."

The voice was _close—_ right over his head, through the window. Yusei bit back a swear, fists curling at his sides. He'd fight, if it came down to it. They wouldn't kill him without one. And if he could kill a few of them before they took him down then—

"Who in their right mind would stick around after _that?_ "

"That's exactly what I said! I said as much to Jnbryal this morning."

"The fucking nerve, am I right? Attacking the Queen face first? Honestly, he's lucky he's not _dead_."

Yusei's breath caught in his throat. Attacking the Nighteater Queen? He certainly hadn't done that. Were they not looking for him at all? Was their presence a coincidence?

"He probably bled out in some corridor—still curled over that kid like some fucking human hero story."

"Well, if that's the case, at least we can still kill the little Star shit that he escaped with."

Again, Yusei's throat constricted. A Starkeeper. Someone had rescued a Starkeeper from the Lighteaters.

"If we find it, I get the heart this time, all right?"

"You get it if you get it first. You just have to be fucking faster."

"There's not many of 'em left, I still haven't gotten a fucking taste!"

Yusei felt bile bubble up in his throat and he pressed a gloved hand over his mouth to quell it. He had to stay still. If they weren't looking for him, they might pass by. But—another Starkeeper! Someone had rescued a Starkeeper! He had to find them. Maybe there were others—maybe this mysterious person had whisked away others, or maybe he was wrong and some _had_ managed to escape. There was a chance. There was a chance he wasn't alone. Where would they be hiding? They must be part of the human rebellion he had heard about—the non-Keepers who hadn't been struck at first since they held no starstone, and thus managed to survive the invasion. He had heard many of them had been kidnapped as slaves, but perhaps...perhaps some of them had assisted his brethren from the order.

"Hang on, Kryxnt. I think I smell something."

Yusei almost choked. He heard the heavy sniffle of the pair scenting the air.

"...you're right. I smell...I smell stars..."

"He must be around here—check that building!"

Yusei heard the wall beside him bend and knew it was only going to be a matter of seconds before the Nighteater simply punched its way through the wall. He pushed off the wall behind him and bolted for the door across the room.

The wall exploded behind him—no time to look back. He heard them shouting, heard the scrabble of claws, he was almost through the door—

A clawed hand curled into the back of his collar and yanked him back. He choked, jerked up into the air and held dangling, his feet kicking wildly.

"It's not him," the Nighteater shouted back. "But—shit, it _is_ a Starkeeper! An older one too!"

Behind Yusei he heard the other Nighteater give out a whoop.

"We'll get promoted for that! Bring him out! I wanna see the little mouse."

Yusei flung a hand back into his captor's face behind him. The Nighteater gasped and dropped him. Yusei tried to bolt again but this time the hand curled around his throat and flung him around, pinning him to the ground. He gasped as the Nighteater landed on him heavily, pressing into his throat and chest. His hands scrabbled at the clawed hand around his neck.

Over him, he could see the Nighteater's face—far closer than he ever had before.

They were eerily human—their shape and body was mostly ordinary, save for their dragon like legs and feet and their clawed hands. Their eyes, though, were unnatural colors. This one had dull orange eyes like rust that shone in the darkness with a light of their own. Their cheekbones were a little too sharp, and their mouths full of fangs. This one had long white hair that trailed over its back like ghostly wisps, and wings sprouted from his back.

He grinned toothily at him.

"You thought you could get away from us, didn't ya?" he said, laughing softly. "Too bad. This hunt's over for you."

Yusei struggled, wriggled. No, no, he couldn't fall here! Not when he knew there were other Starkeepers still alive! He had to return to them, had to help them keep their order alive!

The Nighteater reached for his starstone, ready to pluck it out of its golden framing.

"You know, my favorite part of this is when I get to smash this stupid thing between my fingers, just before I rip out their throats," he said. "It's almost like they're more broken by losing this than dying! You're all so weird."

Yusei batted at his hands, tried to get the stone free. No, _no_ , even if he got away, he couldn't lose that, he couldn't lose all the knowledge and information that was stored away in there, oh, gods, if only he had learned to use his powers to defend himself, if only he could focus enough to use what little power he had—

Tears rolled down his cheeks as the hand tightened on his throat and he felt his vision starting to go out. His struggles were starting to weaken, his head lolled back. He could see the sky from here, just barely. The smoky, too close sky, without any stars, polluted by the Nighteaters' war machines and factory building.

A cloud seemed to shift, and for a moment, he saw one, single star peek through.

There was a soft gasp outside. Yusei's captor jerked up, looking out into the alleyway. Yusei managed to turn his head enough, just in time to see the second Nighteater dropping like a stone.

The second thing he saw were wings.

They were beautiful wings, he thought immediately, almost deliriously. Was he dreaming them? Soft, leathery things, black underneath and a soft gray on top. The second thing he realized was that they belonged to a third Nighteater.

He was a little shorter than the other two, and there was something...different about his eyes. They were almost too ordinary to be Nighteater eyes, a warm, hazelnut brown with shaggy brown bangs over top. He was wrapped in a bright red robe that was torn at the edges. Yusei recognized the style—it was the uniform of some of the higher ranked Nighteaters, the ones that didn't do any of the fighting themselves.

Over his head, the other Nighteater swore.

"You!" he hissed.

"Get off him," the new Nighteater said quietly. "Or I'll kill you."

Claws dug into Yusei's throat and he choked, his vision going out around the edges.

"You fought with the Queen, so you think you're big time, now?" his captor hissed. "You're a fucking traitor, Jndnyat!"

The Nighteater only leveled his eyes at Yusei's captor.

"I won't repeat myself," he said quietly. "And that is not my name. It never was."

Yusei's captor used his free hand to aim claws right for Yusei's heart.

It all happened so quickly. The claws driving for his heart—the rush of air and then the hand gone from his throat and the weight off his chest. He felt a warm splatter of blood on his leg, thought it was his before he saw out of the corner of his eye, the red cloaked Nighteater ripping its claws out of his captor's chest.

For a moment, Yusei blacked out.

When his vision returned, there were arms under his shoulders, propping him up, the faint feeling of claws poking him in the arm—not threatening, more of accidental, as though the hands had forgotten that there were claws there.

"Yusei," a voice was whispering over and over. "Yusei, Yusei, please wake up, no, no, it's taken me so long to find you and now—"

Yusei swallowed, blinked through his foggy vision.

Overhead, the brown haired Nighteater stared down at him. Yusei almost flinched before he saw the concern in his eyes, the drawn, pale look on his face. He squinted, not sure how to react.

"How...do you know my name?" he whispered. "Who are you?"

The boy's eyes lit up and relief broke over his face.

"Oh thank the gods, you're all right," he said. "Oh—oh, I—I'm sorry this is probably—confusing—"

He quickly propped Yusei up against the wall and backed off a little, shuffling back on his knees. He bit his lip gently with one fang, looking very nervous. Yusei couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease—why was this Nighteater helping him?

His mind wandered back to the conversation of the other two—someone had attacked the Queen to save a Starkeeper. Could it...it couldn't have been a Nighteater rebel. That was was...was it possible?

Yusei tilted his head at the Nighteater. Was there...something familiar about him?

"You know my name," Yusei said again. "How?"

The Nighteater jumped. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I...I'm sorry," he said. "It never occurred to me that you wouldn't remember...but I guess that makes sense...I'm a little bit of an anomaly..."

He swallowed.

"I'm Judai," he whispered, and the name sent a strange shudder down Yusei's spine. Did he...know that name? "If a dragon falls in love...its soul becomes a part of the cycle of rebirth, instead of passing on to the afterlife...so that it can follow the one it loves. You taught me that. Do you remember?"

Yusei stared at him. There certainly... _was_ something oddly familiar about the Nighteater's face, the curve of his cheek. He almost automatically reached out, touched his fingers to Judai's cheek. Judai seemed to melt under the touch, his eyes closing, a breath escaping his lips. His hand moved up to put it on top of Yusei's hand, holding it gently against his cheek.

"I missed you so much," he mumbled. "And then I was...reborn as... _this_...and we were suddenly being asked to go to war and everyone started hurting people...and I knew you must be here, somewhere, I just had to find you, until then I had to do what I could but I was so afraid someone would find you before I did—"

"Judai," Yusei whispered, and Judai stopped talking. The name vibrated on Yusei's tongue—he somehow remembered speaking that name.

A tear leaked out of Judai's eye.

"I've waited so long to hear you say my name again," he whispered. "You saved me once—in another life. I'm so glad I was able to save you."

A siren echoed in the distance, and Judai's head jerked up.

"Fuck," he said. "I think I've been caught. We have to go now, meet with the others."

Yusei's heart jumped in spite of himself.

"Others?" he said. "You mean..."

Judai flashed him a smile.

"I couldn't do nothing while I was looking for you," he said. "There are other Starkeepers—the ones I could save—they're hiding out at the edge of the city. Can you walk?"

Yusei tried, but his ankle gave out. He flushed. Judai didn't even ask, he just quickly stood and swept Yusei up into his arms bridal style. Yusei flinched at first, but Judai's arms were gentle, and he didn't even seem to bow even a little under Yusei's weight.

"We're gonna fly," he said. "So hold tight."

"Judai..." Yusei said. "Why are you...doing this? You're betraying your people, aren't you?"

Judai looked down at Yusei. And he smiled.

"I was always yours first," he whispered. "You don't remember, but you once protected me. It's my turn, now."

He pressed his forehead briefly to Yusei's, and Yusei closed his eyes in spite of himself. It felt...familiar. And it was good.

Then Judai's wings snapped out. And with the whisper of leathery wings, and Judai's arms underneath him, they took off into the sky, up over the smoky clouds, and they found the stars again.

* * *

 _I think we're out of order now, I can't remember which lives came next or last after that anymore._

 _You rescued me when I didn't remember you._

 _I hoped that we could meet again in a time where we remembered both and all lives._

 _It's not to be, though, is it?_


	3. Stars, Songs, Faces

_GATHER the stars if you wish it so._

 _Gather the songs and keep them._

 _Gather the faces of women._

 _Gather for keeping years and years._

 _And then …_

 _Loosen your hands, let go and say good-by._

 _Let the stars and songs go._

 _Let the faces and years go._

 _Loosen your hands and say good-by._

-Carl Sandburg

"Fucking...thing...focus...dammit..."

Judai fiddled with his telescope, trying his hardest to get the stupid thing to focus on the star he was supposed to be finding. His star chart was completely empty still and it was already an hour into the class. Fucking hell, if he could just get the stupid thing to focus...

"Hey, is everything okay?"

Judai jumped—the voice was so soft that it seemed like it was coming out of the night itself. He hadn't even heard the footsteps in the grass!

He glanced up, squinting through the dark. He thought he recognized the other young man from the first lecture day—a tall, raven haired figure with eyes so dark in this light that they might have been drops of the night sky. He wore a dark jacket over a white tank top, the jacket unbuttoned and ruffled in a decidedly attractive way. Judai ducked his head, fingers scratching at the back of his neck.

"Um...I can't get it to focus on this constellation," he said. "I must've missed the info in lecture about how to work this thing."

The young man smiled slightly, a knowing quirk at the edge of his lips. Judai wondered if he had seen Judai fall asleep about halfway through—he hadn't meant to! He had been up late finishing homework for another class. He found himself blushing, and was immediately grateful that it was dark outside.

"Here," he said. "I'll help you out. Which one are you still trying to locate?"

Judai's blush deepened.

"...the first one on the list."

The other man actually laughed, a soft, breathy sound like the space between the stars.

"You should have asked for help earlier," he said. "It's okay, you know, to not know what you're doing."

He leaned over Judai to fit his eye to the scope. His fingers flicked the focusing rings with a practiced grace, free eye squinting half shut to focus.

"So like this," he said, making his movements slower and more exaggerated so that Judai could see what he was doing. "Turn the scope in the right direction, and move this one slowly until it comes into focus..."

Judai leaned in a little further so that he could see what the other man was doing, squinting at the dials in the dark. Was it really that easy? He was so focused on paying attention that it wasn't until the other man leaned back up that Judai realized how incredibly close their faces were.

For a moment, both of them froze. Noses were inches from each other, eyes glittering with reflected stars. Judai felt a heat rising to his cheeks—oh, shit, he was making this weird, he should pull away, he should...

This felt...familiar...

His eyes met the other man's, and he thought he saw the same familiarity there. The same slight drawing together of the brows, and parting of the lips, the way his eyes searched Judai's as though he recognized something there.

And then the moment ended and both of them were quickly moving back.

"Ah, thanks," Judai said, tugging at his collar. "You're a real lifesaver, man."

"Not a problem," the young man said, his voice still as soft and gentle as ever, as though that strange moment hadn't just happened. He didn't move from his spot for a minute, and Judai could almost feel the awkward silence about to crash down on them.

"So, uh, this constellation, what was it called again?" he stammered out quickly. He grabbed his pencil as he spoke and made to start scribbling it into the right place. Oh, god, what a stupid conversation starter, he _knew_ what the constellation was, it was written on the top of the worksheet in front of him.

"Draco," the other man said softly. "The dragon..."

 _Dragons?_

Judai let out a soft, awkward laugh.

"Dragons, huh? I always liked those—fantasy stuff, you know, um...do you read fantasy or anything? Watch it or something?"

"I play Dungeons and Dragons every now and then with the club, yeah."

"Oh what? We have a club?"

Judai's eyes snapped up and he could feel himself lighting up.

"I used to play all the time before I moved here! I didn't know there was one on campus!"

The young man smiled at him, his eyes glittering in the dark.

"You should join us sometime. We talk about other nerdy shit too, if you're into that."

"One hundred percent nerd here," Judai joked, poking himself in the chest with his pencil. "Probably owe it to my grandma—always telling me stories about dragons and stuff."

"Both my parents were total nerds," the other man said with a laugh. He shifted himself over so that he was sitting with his elbows resting on his knees, apparently settling in for the conversation. "I couldn't escape it in the end."

"But would really _want_ to escape it, Yusei?"

The other man's laugh was a nice sound, almost melodic.

"I guess not," he said, his teeth flashing a grin in the dark.

And then it slipped, and Judai felt his own smile slip too.

"Hang on," he said. "I just...I just said a name, automatically. That wasn't actually your name, was it?"

"I was about to ask, actually," Yusei said. "I didn't introduce myself without remembering, did I...?"

Judai felt the tiniest chill on the back of his neck.

"I don't...think so?"

Yusei frowned, his brow furrowing. He rubbed his chin with his palm, eyes flickering up towards the sky. His mouth formed a silent word that Judai couldn't quite read—was he murmuring "draco" to himself? Why?

"Well...maybe we've been in another class before? And you might have remembered my name from then..."

"I don't think so, I just transferred in. This is my first class here," Judai said.

Yusei shrugged, his hands turned upward.

"I guess I don't know, then," he said with a slight laugh. "Maybe you're just a really good guesser, Judai."

No sooner had the words left his lips than his face froze. Judai felt his breath catch.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

"That...wasn't your name I just said, was it?" Yusei said.

"It...was, actually," said Judai.

They fell silent again, eyes dropped to the ground. Judai's pencil hung frozen over his page. Unfilled. For some reason, he found his eyes wandering back up to the sky, where the Draco constellation hung above them. His eyes fell back down to Yusei, and he found the other man watching him with the same, uncertain familiarity.

"Well," Judai said. "I guess we get to skip introductions, then?"

Yusei let out a tiny snort. It turned into a laugh, the same nice laugh that Judai had noticed before. He let out a chuckle himself, almost losing his pencil and paper balanced on his knees. Yusei finally stopped laughing and let his head fall down towards his elbows, shaking it helplessly.

"I guess since we've already been introduced," he said, "would you like to come to one of those club meetings? We're having one before class tomorrow. Have any plans?"

Judai grinned.

"Now I do," he said.

Yusei smiled at him, a flash of his white smile in the dark, and for the barest moment, another face yet the same one seemed to hang over his. He thought he heard something like a song, dancing at the back of his mind. Something like...like a dragon might sing. Something ancient and resonating.

But it was gone in an instant. He pushed his brain, but he couldn't get it to come back. With some reluctance, he had to let the half-memory go, fading into the black.

He let out the tiniest sigh.

It was all right. He didn't have to remember whatever that was...right?

 _So close, sometimes, to remembering. Even our constellation, though, wasn't enough to remember more than a name._

 _It's all right. I love making new memories with you._

 _I only wish we could hold all of the memories together, all at once._


	4. Naming the Stars

_This present tragedy will eventually_

 _turn into myth, and in the mist_

 _of that later telling the bell tolling_

 _now will be a symbol, or, at least,_

 _a sign of something long since lost._

 _This will be another one of those_

 _loose changes, the rearrangement of_

 _hearts, just parts of old lives_

 _patched together, gathered into_

 _a dim constellation, small consolation._

 _Look, we will say, you can almost see_

 _the outline there: her fingertips_

 _touching his, the faint fusion_

 _of two bodies breaking into light._

-Joyce Sutphen

* * *

"Look! Look! That one's ours! Look, Yusei, look, you can see it from here!"

Yusei groaned softly, blinking past the cobwebs of sleep. He could feel Judai's hands tight on his shoulder, rocking him back and forth, digging into his joint with a little more force than necessary. He batted at the hand sleepily, his hand feeling heavy.

"Mmmmf….not now Judai…sleeping…"

"No, no, no, you have to see, you have to see it! The smoke's not bad today, you can see it!"

Yusei moaned, flopping his arm over his eyes. Judai immediately pulled the arm away. Then he flopped onto Yusei's belly, making Yusei's air all poof out of him.

"Get upppppp, pleaseeeee," he whined.

Yusei managed to shake off the dragging feeling of sleep, groaning as he tried to sit up. Judai rolled off of him and fell feet first to the floor beside the bed. He bounced on his heels as he waited for Yusei to rub at his eyes, and blink them all the way open.

It was honestly a miracle Judai's excitement hadn't woken any of the other children. Yusei could see that the two rows of beds were all unmoving save for shifting lumps of children, moving under blankets in sleep. The bedroom hung quiet and still. Somewhere in the distance, Yusei could hear the bells from the cathedral tolling. Three times. It was three in the morning and Judai was waking him up.

"The Sisters will be mad if we're up this late," he said.

Judai shook his head, grabbing Yusei's arm and tugging.

"It doesn't matter! We have to go see! We promised, we promised we'd go see it at least once!"

"See…" Yusei started, squinting as he tried to remember through the sleepiness in his brain.

Judai huffed and tugged on his arm again.

"The constellation, Yusei, the constellation! The clouds are clear enough, we can see it from here!"

He tugged so hard that he was actually leaning back, and when Yusei finally gave in and shifted to the end of the bed, Judai fell back onto his butt with a squeak. He bounced up immediately, though, hands still locked around Yusei's forearm.

"Come on, come on, before the smoke gets bad again!"

Yusei yawned, bare feet curling up as they reached the cold wooden floor. Judai lead the way down the rows of beds to the door. He hesitated only a moment to peep through and look both ways before dragging Yusei out.

The Glimminghaven Orphange resonated with the quiet. It was almost as if the silence was a tangible thing, vibrating as they passed through the hall, as though their limbs were dragging at and plucking some invisible sitar strings.

Judai picked his way over the crumbling wood, scrambling over boards that stuck up out of the ground and around nails poking up. This wing of the orphanage hadn't been tended to in decades, and it showed. Yusei's hands itched to _fix_ something. If only the Sisters in charge of the orphanage would let him have his tools…he was only ten, but that didn't mean he was too young for his _own_ tools that his father left to him in his will!

Judai led them to the very end of the hall. The door there was already hanging slightly open, and he pushed both palms against it, almost falling through. Yusei hung back, hands tight at his sides.

"We're not even supposed to be on the balcony in the daytime, Judai," he said. "I don't know about this…"

Judai already stood outside, and he turned around to put his hands on his hips, pouting at Yusei.

"It's just for a few minutes! They won't wake up. I've been out here a million time before and they never notice."

Yusei still didn't move, uncertain. Did he hear footsteps in the hall behind him? If he got in trouble now, he might never see his tools again. He had to be good so that he could get them back on his eleventh birthday like he had been promised. Judai blew out loudly through his lips.

"Yusei," he whined. " _Please_. For two seconds."

Yusei bit his lip. He glanced over his shoulder, still feeling like one of the Sisters was going to burst out into the hall in a split second. He turned back towards Judai, who stared at him with pleading brown eyes.

He let out a breath. Then, chest tight, he skittered over the threshold. Judai quickly closed the door behind them, and then he grabbed Yusei by the wrist again and tugged him towards the railing.

"Look!" he said, pointing up into the sky. "Right there, in the space between the clouds!"

Yusei had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust. Despite the lateness of the hour, there were still numerous oil lamps glowing in the distance, looking almost like stars themselves among the towering and leaning buildings. He could see the shadow of a blimp against the cloudy sky, smell the acrid scent of smoke that hung constantly in the air. For a moment, he saw nothing in the dark sky.

And then the smoke shifted a bit, and he sucked in a breath.

Stars.

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen stars. The sky was always so cloudy with smoke. There they were, like the tiny diamonds in the pawn shop down the road where Yusei liked to stare at the old clockwork automatons to figure out how they were supposed to work. The sky behind the smoke was a deep, velvety blue, a color that he hadn't seen before.

"See," Judai whispered. "And if you trace it like this—"

He reached up with one finger as though he could poke the stars, dragging his finger through air in calligraphic lines.

"It makes a shape. See? That one's called Draco."

"How do you know that's what it's called?" Yusei said, staring at the collection of stars overhead.

"I read it in a book," said Judai.

Yusei tore his eyes away from the stars to raise an eyebrow at Judai. The other young boy bounced on his heels, lips pressed together and a blush spreading over his cheeks.

"Okay, okay, I didn't read the book," Judai said. "I just…I knew cause…we've seen it before together, remember? That's _ours_."

Yusei blinked once. He looked up into the sky at the constellation again, traced it with his eyes. The lines he made in his head looked nothing like a dragon, and he wondered why it had been named that.

Somewhere in the spaces between the stars, he thought he could see other things glimmering. Dragon scales. Wings and fangs belonging to a lanky, brown haired boy with a distressed expression. Other things, things he couldn't quite understand but he knew were his.

"Yeah," he said. "That one _is_ ours, isn't it?"

"I think that's probably where we keep our memories," Judai said. He clambered up onto the railing so that he could stand on the top rung. Yusei automatically grabbed him by the back of the nightshirt to make sure he wouldn't topple forward, but otherwise didn't pull him back down.

"What does that mean?" Yusei said.

"I dunno. But when I see it, I feel like I can remember the other times we met."

Judai reached up as though he could cup the stars in between his hands. Yusei looked up towards them—so far away. So cold. If only…if only he could reach them.

"Do you think we'll still remember that we met before?" Judai whispered, his hands dropping back to his sides. "When we grow up, do you think we'll remember?"

Between the stars, and in their glowing depths, Yusei could see the flicker of other times, other lives. Lives that he, in his child's mind, knew were not dreams, as the Sisters always told them—as they always told them, _"No, you and Judai have never met before. You came to us from very different families. Don't speak nonsense about dragons and living before now—reincarnation does not exist."_

"I don't know," Yusei said. "I think it's hard to remember when you're a grownup."

Judai frowned. His hands curled around the railing, eyes on the stars.

After a beat, he dropped down from the railing, turned around towards Yusei, and threw his arms around him tightly.

"Let's promise," he said. "At least, even if we forget before, we'll remember each other after this."

Yusei smiled into Judai's hair pressed against his face, and hugged him back.

"I promise," he said.

"Me too," said Judai.

In the distance, the bell tolled the hour. Once. Twice. Three times. Four.

* * *

 _Children find it easier to remember the times before. They're closer to them, after all. I never figured out why memories sometimes fade when you grow older, or why sometimes only one of us remembers._

 _Until we can remember everything, we'll keep putting our memories into our constellation. Hopefully, it will find us no matter where we go._


	5. Stars Wheel in Purple

_Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare_

 _as Hesperus, nor yet so great a star_

 _as bright Aldeboran or Sirius,_

 _nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War;_

 _stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight;_

 _yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are_

 _nor as Orion's sapphires, luminous;_

 _yet disenchanted, cold, imperious face,_

 _when all the others blighted, reel and fall,_

 _your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst_

 _to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast._

-Hilda Doolittle

* * *

He wasn't sure _what_ to expect when the ship he was on with his master had gotten run down by the most notorious pirate ship in the known ocean, but he really _hadn't_ expected to get _HUGGED_ by the _captain_.

Judai's head spun, uncertain of how to react. Part of the spinning feeling was probably from getting cuffed upside the head by his lord ten minutes ago, but the rest of it was definitely from the shock of spontaneously being hugged by Captain _Fudo_ , the captain of the fucking _Crimson Dragon_. How many navy ships had this guy taken out? Judai couldn't even count. He was the only known pirate to be able to sail easily in the dead of night, the only successful pirate to strike ships in full darkness and steal away with all their cargo with barely a sign that they had been there.

This close up, even in the darkness, Judai realized the pirate captain was barely older than he was—he couldn't have been a day over eighteen. He had lost his hat during the sword fight with Judai's lord, and his spiky raven hair was a complete and utter mess, ravaged by the high ocean winds. He almost blended in to the dark violet sky above, a twilight turning to night. His fair skin was twisted and scarred by a long, ages-old cut down the left side of his face, right under his eye—but rather than make him look dangerous, it almost made him look somehow…softer. Vulnerable. The effect was also helped along by the fact that he was actually crying a little, a tear rolling out of his other eye.

"Judai, it's you, right, Judai? Please tell me it's you."

Judai's mouth opened, but it only hung there, like he was a dead fish in a barrel. How did the most famous pirate in the ocean know his name? How could he possibly know Judai Yuki—an orphaned nobody locked into the service of a minor lord?

Captain Fudo seemed to get his bearings back, his hands still gripping Judai's shoulders. His head dipped slightly down for a moment, catching his breath. Then his eyes came back to Judai's, and for the first time since the captain had appeared on board, sword flashing and coat tails swirling around his legs, Judai could see his eyes—as dark and azure as the ocean below, glimmering with the faint hint of the stars overhead. It was like the very ocean itself had been poured into his eyes.

And he felt like he had seen those eyes before.

His mouth opened again, and closed. Finally, he let out a hoarse whisper.

"How…do you know…my name?"

Captain Fudo flinched slightly, and Judai thought he saw something drain out of his eyes—as though…losing hope.

"I—I'm sorry," the captain mumbled. He dropped his hands from Judai's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I must have—overwhelmed you—I was hoping maybe—I finally remember in this life and I was hoping this time—"

He turned his eyes away, pressing a gloved mouth to his hand for a moment. Judai found himself stepping forward automatically, hand reaching for the pirate's shoulder. It felt natural—like something…he had done before…

"I'm…I'm sorry," he said, not entirely certain why he said it.

The captain's head jerked up. He turned to Judai in a rush, almost stumbling over his own words.

"Oh, no, no, no, Judai, please don't—it's not your fault you don't remember; I mean—most times _I'm_ the one who doesn't remember, I'm sorry to frighten you I just—saw you and I got overwhelmed and—"

His face was so _open_ , Judai though. So…vulnerable, so genuine. Was this really the frightening pirate captain that he had heard so much about? He certainly matched the drawings on the wanted posters, but this boy was…he was…

Judai found himself reaching for the captain's flapping hand, taking it between his. Immediately, Captain Fudo stopped talking. Judai's hands closed around his, feeling his warm palm through the gloves.

This felt more than familiar. It felt like…it was right. He lifted his eyes to Captain Fudo's, and there, he saw a glimmer of starlight. _Draco,_ he thought. _It's the constellation Draco._ And inexplicably, his next thought was, _our constellation._

A name jumped to Judai's lips before he knew what he was saying, before he realized that he knew it.

"Yusei…?" he murmured.

He should not know the pirate captain's first name. He shouldn't. But he felt the young man's hand tighten against his, and his eyes half shut with a soft shudder at the sound of his name on Judai's lips.

Feet stampeded over the deck, shattering the moment. Judai's heart jumped to the base of his throat as he wheeled around, hand still around Yusei's.

His master, Lord Kerian, appeared at the higher deck. His hand still clutched at his side, where the barest bit of blood seeped between his fingers and into his fine dress clothes—Yusei had cut him there during the fight, that's why he had run in the first place. Yusei had looked about to go after him before he had been distracted by the sight of Judai on the ground, and now the captain swore under his breath, raising his sword up with the hand that wasn't still holding Judai's.

Judai's throat clenched up at the way his lord looked—wild-eyed, pale-faced, his normally slick brown hair half out of his ponytail and strewn in wisps and twisted chunks around his face. His head throbbed where the man had struck him only minutes before the fight had started—he couldn't even remember _why_ the man had hit him. Not that Kerian ever needed a reason. Behind his lord, three soldiers armed with muskets jogged up, two dropping immediately to their knees to aim their weapons at Yusei.

Yusei slid forward, pushing Judai behind him, hand still clasped between both of Judai's.

"Stand down right now," Yusei said. "You don't know what you're dealing with."

Kerian's eyes flashed, but he smiled, flipping hair from his eyes with his sword hand, the blade flashing over his head.

"You have a total of five guns on you right now, _Star Thief_ ," Kerian said, speaking Yusei's ocean nickname with the same venom one might use a swear. "Not including the ones in front of you."

His eyes bored into Judai and Judai felt bile rising in his throat in spite of himself. Goddammit, why did this man scare him so much? He wanted to throw up.

"Boy, get over here," Kerian spat. "Now."

Judai flinched, chest tightening. He saw Yusei's eyes flicker back to him.

"Who is he?" Yusei said.

Judai swallowed.

"He owns my work contract," Judai mumbled. At that, Yusei's eyes narrowed and a faint anger clouded his face. He turned towards Kerian, tightening his hand in Judai's.

"I think he's staying right here," Yusei said. "As I am."

Kerian snorted.

"You think he's worth it as a hostage? I can buy ten more like him for half his price."

Judai could almost smell the anger that was radiating off of Yusei's barely shaking shoulders.

"Well, it looks like you'll have to simply shoot us down," Yusei said, his voice deceptively calm. "Because neither of us are moving."

Kerian threw his head back and barked out that horrid laugh that Judai hated so much.

"So naïve, Mr. Fudo! I knew you were _young_ but I assumed being as successful as you are, you'd know better! You're worth far much more to me alive, and I'll be taking you all the way to the courts with me. I will _greatly_ enjoy watching you hang."

Yusei simply blinked. Judai flickered his gaze frantically back and forth between him and Kerian—Yusei couldn't go with him. Kerian would rip him apart—even before they reached port.

"Yusei, go," he whispered into Yusei's ear. "Go, now—if you run straight towards the lower deck, the door is unlocked, you can slip out through one of the side windows to—"

Where _was_ Yusei's ship, anyway? How had he even gotten on board? Judai couldn't see anything in the dark but he was pretty sure there weren't any ships pulled up near them.

"Go," he whispered again anyway. "I'll cover for you."

Yusei's hand tightened on Judai's.

"I'm not going without you," he said.

"It's fine, I can handle it—he talks big but he won't actually hurt me, I promise."

"No," Yusei hissed back. "You're coming with me—I'm not letting him keep you like—like a fucking slave."

Judai winced, but he tried to push on Yusei's back anyway.

"I'll finish my work contract with him, and find you, or something, but you can't die _here_ , please—"

"Boy!" Kerian snapped again. "Get over here, or I swear to god I'll gun _you_ down! Someone go arrest this man already, goddamn!"

One soldier dropped down to the lower deck and advanced on Yusei. Yusei backed off, keeping Judai behind him.

"Judai!" Kerian snapped, his anger spiking. "For the love of—Captain Fudo, if you do not stand down this instant, I'll shoot the boy instead, since you seem to like him so much!"

Yusei actually _growled_.

"You'll be dead where you stand before you could even touch him," he snapped.

"Yusei, no," Judai said. "Yusei—you can't get hurt, please—"

He didn't even know him—but he _did_. And that was why Judai knew in his bones he couldn't let him get hurt, couldn't let Yusei die in front of him—he had to do whatever it took to keep Yusei _alive_. He couldn't—couldn't watch him—

"The boy is mine, Star Thief, if I want to shoot him, I will!"

"Yusei, technically—technically I _do_ belong to him, so please, just go before you—"

And then, from overhead, there was a sudden _roar_.

Judai gasped as the very air seemed to vibrate through his skull, rattling his brain and his bones. A light exploded around them from something far above. There were several screams—a rattatat that was like musket fire but somehow stronger and more powerful, a _thwump thwump thwump_ of something thick smacking the deck.

When Judai's eyes cleared, he was standing in a spotlight, a whoosh of air like a wind current spinning around him and humming overhead. He tried to look up—something big and black, right over the ship, blotting out the stars. What had happened to Kerian?

When he looked back down, he saw that the soldiers with the muskets were down, unconscious on the deck. Something long and thick was retreating from them like…vines? Giant vines? It disappeared up into the great black shape overhead.

 _It's an airship_ , Judai thought with awe. _They're real. They actually exist._

Kerian was standing alone, his eyes so wide that they were mostly whites. His arms hung uselessly at his sides, sword on the ground.

Yusei just smirked. Another thick vine curled down towards them and unfurled right in front of him and Judai.

"Thanks, Aki," he mumbled as he grabbed the vine and wrapped it around his wrist, stepping up onto the hook that rested on the deck. Then he wrapped his arm around Judai's waist and pulled him close. Judai felt heat rising to his cheeks.

"He's your property, huh?" Yusei said to the open mouthed Kerian. "Well, last time I checked—I'm a pirate. Stealing other people's property is kind of our thing."

He smiled down at Judai.

"Hold tight," he said.

Judai quickly wrapped his arms around Yusei's shoulders, and then the vine tugged upwards.

With all the thoughts that should have been clamoring for attention—relief at being taken from Kerian, shock and awe at the air ship, and whatever magical power was pulling them into the belly of it, the ridiculous situation of somehow being known by the notorious pirate captain Fudo, how Judai had somehow known his name—only one thought stayed clear.

 _I've held him like this before_ , he thought, his arms tightening around Yusei's shoulders as they were hauled into the air. _And this feels right_.

* * *

 _We always meet again in some of the strangest of circumstances, don't we? But at least they're beginnings—beginnings of new adventures with you, new lives and memories with you._

 _The worst lives are the ones when we only know each other for a night or two._

 _The worst ones are when we only meet once._


	6. The Giver of Stars

_Hold your soul open for my welcoming._

 _Let the quiet of your spirit bathe me  
With its clear and rippled coolness,  
That, loose-limbed and weary, I find rest,  
Outstretched upon your peace, as on a bed of ivory.  
Let the flickering flame of your soul play all about me,  
That into my limbs may come the keenness of fire,  
The life and joy of tongues of flame,  
And, going out from you, tightly strung and in tune,  
I may rouse the blear-eyed world,  
And pour into it the beauty which you have begotten._

-Amy Lowell

Crow and Jack had disappeared in the crowd again, and Yusei was getting tired of chasing after them. He groaned, pressing himself against the corner of a booth, arms folded over his chest. His stomach grumbled, but he didn't have any change left in his pockets...Martha didn't have a lot to give them an allowance for the festival, and he had already used his up to buy takoyaki for some of the younger ones, who had wanted to use theirs to play the goldfish game. It was fine, he'd eat something when he got home...if only Crow and Jack would get back here already.

He tugged at the sleeves of his yukata, trying to pull them down around his wrists. It had fit when he was eight, but now he was twelve and he had shot up. It was short around his ankles, too, and he felt kind of silly. He should have just come to the festival in his normal clothes—not that the grimy sweatshirt with oil stains and rips in the elbows would have looked much nicer among the ocean of flower printed yukatas that moved up and down the aisles of booths.

It was getting dark, he thought, glancing up into the sky. He could see the stars now, and traced the constellations with his eyes. In his peripherals, the row of booths was starting to light their paper lanterns, the golden glow bathing the dirt pathway. Voices clattered around him, a little too loud, and he crushed back against the corner of the booth again, hoping that the shadows would hide him. He was so _hungry_...he just wanted to go back home and hide in the garage with the old motorbike that Martha had let him drag back from the junkyard. He resisted the urge to cover his ears with his hands. That kind of thing tended to bring adults over to see what was wrong, and he didn't think he could handle the stress a bunch of adults surrounding him, talking at him, trying to make him get out of his corner to "find his parents." He felt sick just imagining it.

His stomach growled even louder, and he hugged himself around the waist. Maybe he would just leave without Crow and Jack. They should have been back ages ago—they were probably stuck in some ridiculous contest between themselves again, like who could find the most fallen yen coins, or who could sneak behind the most booths before they got caught.

"Hi," said a small voice near him.

Yusei jumped, his heart slamming up through his throat. He dropped his arms to his side and whipped his head around.

There was a small boy next to him, probably a year or two younger, and at least four inches shorter. His messy brown hair was adorned with a randomly shoved hair comb in the back, as though he had put it there as a joke. His maroon yukata was too big for him, the hem dragging in the dirt around his feet, and the sleeves bunched up around his fists where he held a pair of dango skewers in front of him.

He cocked his head at Yusei for a minute. Then he held out his second dango stick.

"Are you hungry?" he said. "I'm only gonna eat one."

Yusei blinked at him. His stomach rolled again and he felt his cheeks flush. He ducked his head.

"I can't take that," he mumbled. "I'm okay."

"Why not?"

The other boy blinked, looking legitimately confused.

"I said I'm only gonna eat one," he said, holding it out closer to Yusei. "You can have it if you want."

Yusei blinked at him under his bangs, not really sure what to make of the kid. The boy stared back. Then he smiled.

"I'm Judai," he said. "What's your name?"

Yusei ducked his head.

"I'm...Yusei."

Judai smiled widely at him, and Yusei thought he could almost see the stars in his eyes.

"Cool! We know each other's names now. That means we're friends!"

Yusei looked up, blinking. Judai was still smiling. He pushed the dango stick towards him again.

"And that means we can share stuff. Come on! Please take it."

Yusei's stomach clenched up a little bit, and he eyed the dango stick. He really did want it...and Judai was being so nice...

He blushed as he accepted the stick, his fingers brushing Judai's as he did so. Judai beamed at him, his smile even wider than before. He bit down happily into the first dango on his stick, closing his eyes to enjoy the taste.

"It's really good, right?" he said.

Yusei nibbled the top of his dango—it _was_ good.

"Thank you," he said.

"That's what friends are for, right?" Judai said.

Yusei laughed quietly. This boy was pretty forceful, wasn't he? Did you really make friends this quickly? He glanced up into the sky again, where the stars shone over their heads. Judai followed his gaze.

"It's really pretty here, right?" he said. "You can see all the stars!"

"Yeah, it really is," Yusei said. "You can see Draco tonight."

Judai craned his head back, almost falling backwards to squint at the sky.

"Huh? Really? Which one?"

"That one," Yusei said, pointing. "See? All those stars in like a snake-line."

Judai squinted. He turned himself around to stand next to Yusei, backing up against the booth with him.

"Oh that one!" he said, twisting his head so he could look right down Yusei's pointed arm. "It doesn't look much like a dragon..."

Yusei laughed.

"They don't really look like anything," he said. "But someone thought they did once."

Judai's eyes sparkled, the stars shining at the backs of his brown eyes.

"What other ones do you know? I don't know any of them."

"Ummm," Yusei said, trying to remember from the book he had read. "That one's Hercules, I think...and that one's the Little Fox. That's the Wolf, and that's Libra..."

Judai hung on every word, leaning over to follow Yusei's hand every time and counting the stars himself. The night was growing cooler around them, and a breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees surrounding the festival grounds. A few clouds blew over the stars, but never enough to hide them away. Yusei paused to catch his breath, leaning back against the booth with Judai beside him. Judai stared quietly into the sky.

"I can't see the stars back home," he said. "There's too many lights in the city..."

Yusei looked back down at Judai, tilting his head.

"You're not from around here?" he said. "Where are you from?"

"Tokyo," Judai said, sighing. "It's much nicer here. I wish my parents would let me stay...but we're only here for the week."

Yusei actually felt a little bit of his heart sink at those words. He had only just met Judai, and he wasn't even going to be here that long? But Judai brightened up, smiling at Yusei.

"But I'm having fun while I'm here! And I already made a new friend, so that's great, right!"

Yusei had to smile, the other boy's cheer was infectious.

"It really is," he said. "You're a very nice person, Judai-kun."

"And you're super cool, you know all the stars!" Judai said. "Thanks for telling me about them, it's really cool to see them all!"

A voice echoed over the festival—it sounded like Judai's name. Judai's shoulders immediately slumped.

"Mom," he mumbled. "I think I have to go, Yusei-kun...I'm sorry."

Yusei's ears perked up at the sound of his own name, too, from a pair of bellowing voices in the other direction shouting in unison. Crow and Jack.

"Me too, I think," he said, pushing off the back of the booth, the finished dango stick dangling from his fingers.

For a moment, they both just stood there and looked at each other. Yusei found his eyes meeting Judai's with perfect ease, as though he had looked at him like this before. Could he see something else in those eyes, something familiar?

" _YUSEIIIII!"_

" _Judai-kun, it's time to go home, where are you?"_

They both sighed, almost in unison. Then Judai smiled.

"It was really nice to meet you, Yusei-kun," he said. "I hope I see you again before I go!"

"Me too," Yusei said.

Judai smiled one last time. Then he nodded, and trotted off around the booth, disappearing among the crowd of yukata. Yusei stared at the place where he had been, a maroon afterimage hanging in the air.

Then he let his head drop back, so that he could look up into the sky.

Draco stared down at him, sparkling as brightly as ever.

"I hope we meet again too," Yusei whispered up into the space between the stars.

* * *

 _Sometimes that's all we get. One meeting, one hello, and one goodbye. It doesn't seem like enough._

 _But sometimes, it's worse._

 _Sometimes, we lose each other._

 _A single meeting might be just enough, as long as you're safe afterward. Watching you disappear is something I never want to do again._


	7. Evening Star

_'Twas noontide of summer,  
And mid-time of night;  
And stars, in their orbits,  
Shone pale, thro' the light  
Of the brighter, cold moon,  
'Mid planets her slaves,  
Herself in the Heavens,  
Her beam on the waves.  
I gazed awhile  
On her cold smile;  
Too cold- too cold for me-  
There pass'd, as a shroud,  
A fleecy cloud,  
And I turned away to thee,  
Proud Evening Star,  
In thy glory afar,  
And dearer thy beam shall be;  
For joy to my heart  
Is the proud part  
Thou bearest in Heaven at night,  
And more I admire  
Thy distant fire,  
Than that colder, lowly light._

-Edgar Allen Poe

" _We've got guns on the roof, I repeat, we've got guns on the roof, find cover—"_

Judai swore and hit the wall, his entire body rattling with the impact. He lifted his handgun up in both hands. His breaths came short and harsh, scraping through his throat. The gun felt so _heavy_ , he hadn't been ready for this. Hadn't been ready at all.

It was too dark, the sky hanging low and heavy over head. He could see every star tonight, even though usually the smoke was too heavy. He wasn't sure if it was a good omen or not. Well, he liked the look of them, at least. A pretty sight despite the not-so-pretty situation.

A spray of machine gun fire hit the side of the building just a few feet away from him. He heard someone cry out and felt bile rise up in his throat. This was bad—this was already going so badly. It was supposed to be a simply mission—slip in, slip out. Get a headcount on the number of terrorists in this cell, what weapons they were packing, what their next move was going to be. Then get out, get it to headquarters.

They hadn't been ready to be expected.

 _Fuck, I'm here for stealth, not a fucking siege_ , Judai thought. He crouched down, sidled along the building. Peeked one eye around the corner.

The splinter military group had barricaded themselves in the warehouse with a few beat up cars on their sides. Bullets sprayed the underside of the cars and any heads ducked down. As soon as the fire stopped, two more popped up with their heavy weaponry, firing off in the same direction.

 _Three of them on duty_ , Judai thought. _I saw three heads drop._

There was a window just above his head. If he could jiggle it open and slip into the abandoned office building, he could make his way past the barricade and sneak out on the other side. There, he could infiltrate and blend in with the rest of the rebel group like his mission had been in the first place.

He tugged at his collar and pulled the radio sewn into it to his mouth—he knew he didn't have to for it to pick up, but he wanted to make sure that this transmitted.

"Manjoume, you copy? I'm going in around. Be back on the other side."

"Don't do anything stupid, Agent," his superior officer growled into his earpiece. "But get those fucking plans if you can."

"Roger roger," Judai joked, and ignoring the angry splutter in his ear. Manjoume hated when he acted "so carefree" about this job. What else was he supposed to do, become a grizzled old man trapped in a teen's body like Manjoume? He had some time before he got _that_ far, even in this stupid job.

He pushed himself up against the wall, dropping his gun to one side as he used the other hand to jiggle the window free. He had to shoot the lock open, and timed it with the sound of traded gunfire between the military group and his team to hide the sound. He had to jump dive to get through, combat rolling to his feet, gun raised.

Luckily, it didn't seem that any guards had been posted in this building. Clearly, they didn't expect anyone to take this route—sloppy.

Judai pulled the dusty red bandanna on his neck over his mouth and nose, and pulled the tinted goggles over his face. Time to go.

He darted around old, broken up cubicles and desks, gun pointed down. It took him only a few minutes to duck under the windows, out of sight, and get past the barricade. He pressed to the wall on the side of the window on the other side of the building, peeking through to make sure no one was watching his exit. From this side, he only had to flip the lock, and in a few moments, he was outside again, on the other side of the barricade.

"In," he breathed into his mic. "Going radio silent."

"Copy that—be _safe_ , Judai."

Judai rolled his eyes, even though Manjoume couldn't see him. He flipped the mic off and shut it down, just in case anyone here had the technology to pick it up and find him out. He was used to this, anyway—single missions were his thing. Most of "his team" didn't even know he existed. He was the emergency last resort button, a level five classified secret due to his _abilities_ , and he enjoyed it that way. No other bodies behind him to worry about catching gunfire—just himself and the mission.

He peered around the wall to take a look at the barricade from behind. He had miscounted—four units, all of them with really big guns and boxes of ammo. His team would be at this for a while before they got in—but their job was just to hold fire. They didn't know that they were giving Judai his distraction, but they were doing a damn good job of it anyway.

He watched the four of them gesture at each other, all of them masked somehow with either bandannas or cheap costume store masks. He recognized the signals they were sending to each other—similar hand gestures to the other group that Judai had infiltrated a while back. He could copy those. One of them swore at the others with a distinct accent, a rolling of the r's and an overpronunciation of the vowels. He filed the sounds at the back of his head.

He glanced back towards the warehouse—it was about a twenty foot walk from the barricade to the warehouse entry. No guards, he assumed the front ones were all at the barricade. There would be at least three on each side, and two in the back. A three story building—easy enough to scale, honestly. Not that he'd have to. He'd be going in as one of them with his _abilities_ , after all.

He moved around the corner, strapping his gun back to his thigh, and walked out a few feet before running at a jog towards the men at the barricade. They heard his footsteps, and one whipped around with the gun out.

"Jesus, what the fuck," Judai said in a perfect imitation of the accent he had heard, throwing his hands up. "Calm the fuck down, mate."

The man immediately dropped his weapon to his side, swearing.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Rune," he swore. _Rune. I'm Rune_ , Judai thought. _Lucky—I told Manjoume a red bandanna was a lucky color._

A little bit closer to the man, and his _abilities_ started to kick in.

 _My name is Rune Jenkins. This man is my older brother Carlyle. I've been in the Resistance for three months after he brought me in._

It was his ability that made him a secret. Get close enough to someone, and he could start to visualize people that they knew, people they saw. He could construct a persona around that, could see himself as though he were the person they thought they saw. This man thought Judai was his little brother—in that case, Judai started to automatically feel as though he _was._ The accent, the voice mannerisms that Carlyle knew his brother used, the way he walked, the impression he left, things he was likely to say—Judai could consume that impression that people had of other people, and he could copy it. Act the way that someone expected him to act.

It made him a perfect spy.

"Sorry, mate, not my fault you're so fucking jumpy," Judai said in a perfect roll of Rune's accent. "General's called—'nother batch of them fed bastards coming 'round the other side, she said. Forgot the last part, though, figured you'd know what she tell you to do."

Carlyle swore. He reloaded his gun, peeked up over the barricade, and then turned back to Judai.

"Tell her we're fucking swamped already as it is," he said. "Get Jon over there instead, he'll be closer."

Judai copied the image of Rune's overexaggerated salute projected into his head by Carlyle's subconscious expectation.

"Roger that, Carlie," he said.

"And don't call me Carlie," Carlylye growled. He let out a face hiss through his teeth as he snapped back over the barricade to let loose another spray of gunfire.

His cover set, Judai skittered back towards the warehouse gates. They were unlocked—geez, this place was really not well run, was it?

The image of Rune started to fade as Carlyle went out of range, and his body slipped back into its normal mannerisms. He pushed into the warehouse, hand drifting towards his gun. Where now? He had to find the briefing room. Copy some photos of their maps and plans, and bring them back—Manjoume would know what to do with them. Easy in, easy out.

He ran low through the dim warehouse—geez,where the fuck was everyone? There should be a flurry of activity, right? As it was, there were only boxes of weapons—lots of weapons. And...was that...

Judai felt his heart in his throat as he wove his way through the boxes towards a particular pair. The lid was just barely wiggled off, and through the crack, he could see something that he really, really didn't like.

He pushed against the side of his temple to activate the camera in his false contact, taking a photo and sending it straight to Manjoume. He wasn't gonna like this either. He pushed the lid off to be certain and took another photo, his stomach twisting.

Warheads— _nuclear_ warheads. Where had they gotten this kind of firepower?

There was a board near the boxes, pinned up with diagrams and photos. Was that—the capital building? And did that calendar have the date of the next council summit listed there?

"Fucking hell," Judai whispered, almost forgetting to take another picture. "They're going to blow up the council?"

"Hey! You!" someone shouted. "What are you doing over there?"

Judai flinched, his eyes snapping up towards the balcony on the floor overhead. A figure stood there, gun trained on him. He raised his arms, copying the accent from before and adding a frightened tremble to the mix.

"Hell, man, watch where you're pointing that!" Judai said. "I was looking for the commander, got a message for her!"

"Commander's busy," the man said. "Are you one of hers?"

"Rune Jenkins," Judai called by way of answer, hoping that was enough.

The man actually paused for a moment, his gun moving down. Then he pulled it back up again.

"Funny," he said. "Cause I thought I just killed the commander's little errand boy."

Judai's heart jumped into his throat as his brain immediately began to recognize the situation.

"So there are two things that are going to happen here," the man said. "One is, you're not Rune Jenkins, and you're lying to me—in which case, I'll shoot you. Two is, you _are_ Rune Jenkins, and the other one I just killed was lying to me first—which means that he gave me the wrong information."

He pulled the gun up to his shoulder and sighted down at Judai.

"So here's how it'll work—you tell me where Miss Commander's hiding out, so we can have the chat of ours, or I shoot you right now."

 _This man is wearing the insignia of the rebels. He holds a gun easily, but with the wrong grip, which means that he learned how to do it himself, no previous training—definitely one of the rebels. And yet, he's killed the commander's runner. This facility is almost empty when it should be a flurry of activity._

 _This is a coup within their ranks._

 _And it probably has to do with this warheads._

Judai dove behind the boxes. The man swore, but there was no gunfire—both of them knew why. He wasn't going to risk shooting the warheads. Judai ducked and bolted for the warehouse door, but it was too late. An alarm screamed through the building and the doors slammed shut of their own accord. He heard the man screaming into a walkie talkie behind him.

He swore and went instead for the hallway, shoving his shoulder through the door and bursting through. A long hallway spread down in front of him, with doors on either end. How did he get out? One of the doors had to lead to a window.

One door swung open, and head poked around the side. Judai hurtled down, and the head immediately disappeared and the door slammed shut, a shout going up inside. No time to think, just run. He bolted past the door, but another one ahead of him opened and this time a man with a gun poked out. Judai fired off one shot at him and he ducked back inside the room. He turned his gun to the door next to him next, and fired through the door handle to break the lock. He forced his way inside—cover was his only option, and slammed the door behind him.

He turned around, greeted instantly by a gun barrel. Swearing, he raised his gun, it was probably too late—

The gun didn't fire, and for a moment, there was only the guns, staring at each other, frozen in midair, unfiring. Heavy, choking breaths echoing each other.

Judai's eyes took in the room. One man with a gun—not armed for combat, he was only in a tank top and sweats, his arms streaked with oil grease. A mechanic, probably.

And—and there were children. Five of them, all cowering behind the man, with wide eyes.

The children were sobbing, crying. Judai could see the other man's arms twitch, as though he wanted to drop the gun and comfort them. All he could do for now was nudge them behind him with his legs, pushing himself between Judai and the children. Judai felt his heart jump in his throat. Children—no one had told him there would be children in this facility.

"Out," the man said, and at first, Judai thought he was talking to him. "You heard me, out, now, get down the hallway to the safe room—now."

He realized he was talking to the kids, and one of the older ones grabbed some of the younger ones, pulling them back towards the door on the other side of the room. The man trained his gun on Judai.

"You hurt any one of them and I'll shoot you," he said.

"Not my intent," Judai said, keeping his gun raised.

After a few moments, the kids had all disappeared, the door closing—and clicking locked—behind them. Judai let out his breath, feeling much more comfortable without all the kids in the crossfire.

"You're the intruder," the man said, swallowing thickly. "The one from the feds."

There wasn't anything he could do to hide it.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Judai said. "Let's just...both put our guns down, okay? At the same time, maybe?"

The other man didn't budge. Even though Judai's brain should probably have been on not getting shot, he couldn't help but distantly notice how _hot_ the man was. His tank top showed off slick muscles, dark hair falling messily over his eyes and styled into spikes behind his head, blond streaks glinting in the light. His eyes were in shadow from his bangs and the swinging lightbulb, but Judai could still see their deep azure, could see the thin scar that ran down one cheek. It looked like it had been done methodically—almost purposefully. Could he have been a chipped prisoner, and sliced it out of his face himself? Judai shuddered at the thought, but knew some of the escapees from the prisons did that. He had met one or two on missions, usually trying to kill him.

"I don't trust you," the man said, voice thick—trembling, Judai thought. He was scared. For himself, or the kids?

"I know, I know," Judai said. "But I swear—I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm just in and out."

The man raised his gun a little higher.

"You _will_ hurt us, though," he said. "You leave, and you tell the feds where we are, where we're going. You leave, and all of us die."

His finger trembled on the trigger. Judai swallowed. This wasn't going to go well, he could just feel it. Irritation sparked in his chest.

"Well, you guys aren't exactly a bucket of roses yourselves," he said. "How many buildings have you blown up? Huh? How many people have been gunned down in the name of this rebellion of yours?"

The man actually flinched a little, his shoulders tightening.

"We've only ever defended ourselves," he said.

"You hit the government first," Judai pointed out. "So, we're defending ourselves too."

"Every single child in here is an _orphan_ ," the man hissed. "Because of what this godforsaken government does to us—it beats us down. It hurts everyone."

"So you hurt us back?" Judai said.

The man's eyes flickered, his arms were trembling. Judai edged himself forward, slowly, slowly enough so that the man might not notice the motion. A few more inches forward and he could disarm him—his grip was too tight. Too shaky. He'd drop the gun in just one blow to the elbow.

 _He's never held one before_ , Judai thought. He felt sick thinking about it—this was a kid barely older than him. Probably recruited just like Judai had been, but for the other side.

Judai had _seen_ the things that his employers had done. Had seen the poverty in the streets. He understood why they would want to rise up—but they had hurt so many people doing so. There had to be a better way. That's why he kept trying. Kept working to prevent the violence.

"Listen," Judai said. "I know your heart's probably in the right place. But blowing up the state building? You'll kill hundreds—and on the day of the council meeting, you'd kill that group of delegates that's actually pulling for you, pulling for the platform that you guys are always spouting. Is that going to help your cause?"

The man's eyes flickered up to Judai, furrowing.

"Blowing up what?" he said. "We're not attacking the state building."

"That's not what I saw," Judai said.

"No—the commander said we were going to provide protection—the delegates got death threats, we're just supposed to be there for protection for them—"

"From what I ran into out there, I'd say the plans have changed—looks like a coup. You might have new commander by the time I'm gone, and they seem a little more gun happy than your last one."

The man's eyes widened, and the gun slipped down just a fraction as his brain seemed to whir.

That was the only opening that Judai needed. He shot forward, grabbing the gun and jerking it to point up over his head. The man jolted, eyes wide, and accidentally pulled the trigger. A bullet swung wide just over Judai's head and ricocheted off the wall. Both Judai and the man went down—Judai lost his gun and it spun across the floor, but the man's gun was also disarmed and went bouncing into the corner. They grappled with each other for a moment, both trying to get advantage over the other. Judai went for his throat, hoping he could just get the guy to pass out—

But the other man was far stronger than he was, he realized with a jolt. He knocked off Judai's bandanna with one swipe of his hand and then he had Judai by the wrists. In a few seconds, their roles were reversed, and now Judai was the one pinned to the ground beneath the man's knee crushing into his sternum.

"Explain," he said. "How do you know there's a coup—where is Izayoi Aki?"

"Hell if I know," Judai said, squirming to get free. "All I know is that someone started shooting at me, asking me where the commander was hiding."

"You're lying," the man said, but he sounded uncertain.

"You have nuclear fucking warheads in your warehouse," Judai said. "That sounds pretty violent to me."

For a moment, they just sat there, Judai pinned underneath him, gasping for breath. He was honestly shocked no one had come bursting in here yet.

The man over him swallowed.

"Godwin," he mumbled. "I didn't think—at least, he wouldn't try anything during a raid like this—"

"Why are you fighting with them?" Judai said. "Why are you here? You've never held a weapon in your life, have you?"

The man looked like he was going to actually blush.

"Aki needed my help," he said. "We had to do something—make our voices heard. We weren't supposed to hurt anyone—no one was supposed to get hurt."

"Well it sounds like your friend Aki is the one getting hurt now," Judai said. His cheek was bleeding—when had he bitten it? The blood tasted acrid and metallic.

The man went white again.

"If—if you're not lying, then...God. This is...this isn't—"

His head snapped up.

"Oh god, the kids," he mumbled.

Judai's felt his own face drain. If there was a military coup going on out there, were those kids going to be safe?

But at the thought, the man's grip loosened, and that was all Judai needed to heave upwards, throwing him off. He rolled out of the way as the man hit the ground with an oof. He was almost to his feet when the man recovered himself and went after him again. His hand hit the side of Judai's goggles and pulled them half over his eyes. With a swear, Judai just pulled them off and flung them—they were useless now, made it hard for him to see in the building anyway.

He raised his fists, ready to fight, but the man had frozen. His mouth hung open, staring at Judai's finally bare face.

Judai's abilities started to work.

 _My name is Judai._

He felt his throat close up as he found his ability wrapping around him, turning him into— _himself_. How did this man know his name? Know his face? How did he know his mannerisms, expect to see them? How was this possible?

 _I'm the one that he keeps seeing in his dreams every night—the face that keeps haunting him and he doesn't know why. I'm the one that's always calling out his name during a nightmare. Yusei. Yusei. Yusei. Over and over again._

 _I'm..._

 _I'm someone he's been looking for._

The man swallowed.

"Judai?" he whispered.

A name jumped to Judai's lips without thinking about it.

"...Yusei," he breathed. It was right, he knew. Not just because of his ability but because it felt right.

Yusei slowly rose to his feet, his hands trembling at his sides.

"Who...are you?" he whispered. "Why...why do I keep seeing you?"

"I don't know," Judai said.

 _He had an impression of wings. Big, scaly, silvery things, wrapping around him._

Judai choked on his own saliva. That wasn't an impression from Yusei's mind. That was his own thoughts.

" _I'll protect you," the dragon said. "You're safe here."_

It seemed somehow wrong that this man wasn't wreathed in scales—wasn't sporting wings from his back and claws in his hands. What was wrong with Judai all of a sudden? Were his abilities doing something to him?

Yusei stepped forward, his hand reaching towards Judai. Judai's fingers started to twitch upwards. If they touched again, would he...remember something else? Would he...figure out the words that were dancing on the edge of his head...?

The door banged open and guns appeared, shouts echoing around them as three—no, four armed guards poured in. Judai swore—where was his gun? Where was it?

Yusei was shouting, what was he saying?

"Owen, what is this, what are you doing, why are you all in your gear? This isn't—"

One of them shot forward, grabbed Yusei by the throat and shoved him against the wall.

"Where is she? Where's that bitch—she must have told you where she was disappearing to!"

Yusei choked, his hands scrabbling at the hand holding him against the wall. His eyes bulged and his face was starting to redden. Even still, his face contorted with a snarl.

"So it's fucking true—you're staging a coup, now, huh? Tell me about the warheads, that's new information to me."

"Shut up unless you're telling me where Izayoi is!"

The man shook Yusei a little harder and Yusei choked on his words, his snarl fading with pain instead.

Judai whited out for a moment.

When he came too, Yusei was on the ground, gasping for breath, and his former captor was screaming, his elbow popped out at an unnatural angle.

"Why are you fighting, Yusei?" Judai whispered.

Yusei gasped for breath, rubbing his throat as he looked up at Judai. Judai couldn't look back to meet his eyes, but somehow, he could imagine what they would look like. Warm, and shining with determination.

"To protect the ones I love," he whispered back.

Judai swallowed.

"Go," he said. "Go, I'll hold them off. Find you commander—your real one. Fix this."

"Judai—"

In the commotion of Judai's attack, the other four hadn't recovered themselves yet. Sloppy, he thought distantly, his ears ringing with some distant noise.

"I'll catch up," he said, leaning down to find his gun at his feet, checking how many bullets were left. "Promise—just go. You know where she is, and you know what these guys are planning. Stop it. Stop it before it does."

He could feel Yusei staring at his back. Feel the azure eyes boring into him.

"I have so many questions," he whispered.

"I probably don't have answers," Judai said.

Then he fired his gun at the closest soldier and let the bullet rip through the man's head. He dropped like a stone. Immediately, the others were finally getting their shit together, raising their assault rifles.

"GO!" Judai screamed. He fired again—again.

He wasn't sure if Yusei ran. He was pretty sure he had seen the door open behind him and Yusei disappear through it. It was definitely unlocked and open, as he was able to back out through into the hallway. He couldn't hear anything over the spray of bullets. One ripped through his arm and he had to drop it from the gun, but he kept firing with the other hand, the kickback sending him back step by step.

One ripped through his knee and he lost his footing. Another shot—one more—his gun clicked empty. He threw it, as hard as he could, but it only bounced off the man's helmet. Another bullet hit him in the side. Another one. It was a miracle that they were all missing his vitals—or at least, he thought they were. Oh, fuck—there was blood in his mouth and it wasn't from his cheek.

 _Did Yusei make it?_ He thought. _I hope...so..._

Another bullet hit him and this time he hit the ground—he couldn't hold himself up anymore.

He saw a gun barrel aimed at his head. This was it—quickly now, or slowly later. He knew it was only a matter of time. He closed his eyes.

A spray of bullets rushed over his head, and even through the ringing of his ears he heard the bodies hit the floor. He managed to open his eyes enough to see Yusei—back, a gun in his hand that he wasn't firing, his eyes wide and hands trembling. The bullets came instead from a woman dressed all in red, her hair flying messily over her hazel eyes shining with rage.

Judai couldn't hear anything except for the bullets. His ears were ringing too much.

He saw Yusei run to him, felt his hands come underneath him and prop him up in his arms. He could see Yusei's mouth moving. He couldn't hear the words.

He could still feel his abilities, feel them creating images and personas around him that Yusei somehow knew.

 _A tiny dragon, still young, with golden scales and a pleased, bright expression on his face for finally learning to take his dragon form._

 _An awkward boy with bat wings and fangs, always so careful when he was near Yusei to avoid hurting him, always so nervous and uncertain, but so happy to have found him again._

 _A boy fiddling with a telescope, unable to figure out how it worked._

 _A small child nibbling on a dango stick, holding out his extra one. Happy to have made a friend._

 _A child, excitable and uncaring of the rules, dragging him down a hallway to look at the stars._

 _A teenager standing on the deck of an airship, staring at the world whooshing around them, the stars so close that he could almost touch. A teen that he would slide his arms around from behind and bury his face into his hair, smiling at the laugh that the boy would release at the touch._

Yusei's tears fell onto Judai's cheeks, but he couldn't hear the sobs. Judai reached up weakly, tried to touch Yusei's face, the scar that ran down his cheek. How did he keep getting it every single time? How reckless.

 _I had questions for you too,_ he thought. His hand was too weak to reach, and he let it fall to the ground. His vision was blacking out, Yusei was gripping one hand, shaking him—even without sound Judai could tell he was begging him to keep his eyes open. He couldn't.

* * *

 _I hope...we can meet somewhere more peaceful next time..._

 _They say when a dragon falls in love, its soul becomes mortal, and it joins the cycle of rebirth._

 _We were both dragons, and we both fell in love._

 _Over and over we find ourselves spinning like this. But a dragon's soul can never rest once it's fallen in love—not until both souls learn to remember. Not until both souls meet, and resonate, with the memory of their times together._

 _Only then, when we have finally learned to pull the memories we hid within our constellation, will we be able to stay together._

 _Only then will our souls be one again._


	8. Places Among the Stars

_Places among the stars,  
Soft gardens near the sun,  
Keep your distant beauty;  
Shed no beams upon my weak heart.  
Since she is here  
In a place of blackness,  
Not your golden days  
Nor your silver nights  
Can call me to you.  
Since she is here  
In a place of blackness,  
Here I stay and wait_

-Stephen Crane

It was way too early in the fucking morning for him to be awake. Thank God at least one coffee shop was still open, or Judai would have probably keeled over right on top of his thesis. It wasn't the shop he liked to use, but damn would it have to do at this point.

 _Why on Earth did I decide higher education was a good idea?_ he thought irritably to himself as he pushed groggily through the doors, blinking even at the dim lighting. _Why did I decide this metaphysical shit was what I wanted to go into?_

He _knew_ why, but he was in a pissy mood right now and didn't feel like reminding himself. He managed to pull himself over to the counter and squint at the menu before ordering something much stronger than he usually did—he _needed_ it. He left his name and then stumbled over to a booth in the corner. He wasn't going to be able to keep himself upright to wait.

With a heavy sigh, he let his head slide down onto the table. Hopefully he wouldn't sleep through hearing his coffee called, but he couldn't sit up. This was the worst. Staying up until five am, and no sleep in sight?

He twisted his head toward the window beside him.

 _This is such a small town,_ he thought. _So different from the city._

It was a small college too, with a very intense program for metaphysical studies, the only one in the country. He supposed he was lucky even one shop was open this time of night in a place like this, but it _was_ a college town. They were probably used to getting college students stumbling in at all hours.

But he could see the stars here, he thought. There wasn't any light pollution or smoke to hide them. The college had a great astronomy program too because of it—there was even a big telescope and observatory at the edge of town that Judai had visited more than once.

The stars were the reason he had chosen this place—the program he wanted being here was a bonus.

 _If he's here…he'll find the stars, right? He'll follow them…if he remembers…_

He pressed his forehead back against the table. Somewhere behind him he heard the door jingle open.

"You're late."

"Sorry, got caught up in a Skype call with my brothers. You can take off now if you want, just let me know how to finish off that cup."

"Name and order's written on the cup. Have fun."

Judai closed his eyes. He was too tired to be thinking about it—to be thinking about him. It was at times like these when he started to think that _he_ was just a dream. Just a disassociative hallucination or something. It was at the quiet moments, without his research about reincarnation and metaphysics to distract him, that he thought…

Maybe he had made it all up.

Maybe it was like his parents had said—an imaginary friend.

But it was so _vivid_. The names, the places, the settings—could he really have made it all up? Could it really only be the imagination of a child? Could he have made up remembering his dragon wings? Remembering the names of places that turned out to be real before he had ever read about them before?

Could he have made up remembering what it was like to die?

His body tensed up. He let out a hiss between his teeth to try and release some of the tension that came with remembering that. To distract himself, he turned his eyes back to the sky.

 _Draco_ , he thought, staring at the constellation just visible over the tops of the buildings across the street. _That one's ours._

He put his hand on the window, felt the cold glass under his palm. Imagined that he was touching the constellation—cold, distant, shining. That was where they hid their memories, he remembered saying once. Or had it been Yusei who had said that? He couldn't remember.

Someone's voice called out softly into the coffee shop, but it didn't sound like his name so he didn't look up. The voice spoke again, poking at Judai's haze of sleep.

"Jaden?" someone called again. "Is there someone called Jaden here?"

Judai looked up irritably. Holy fuck, not again—how did people keep getting _Jaden_ out of his name? He growled as he shimmied himself free of the booth, angling around it and bumping his calf against the corner. He swore under his breath. His head ducked down so he could rub his calf while he half limped up to the counter for his coffee.

"Jaden must be me I guess," he said, lifting his eyes from his sore calf to take the offered coffee. "Although—"

The coffee slipped out of the barista's fingers before Judai could get his hand all the way around it. He swore again as it fell in slow motion—he made a swipe for it. He managed to grab it, but his hand squeezed too hard and some of the coffee dribbled out and down onto his hands, burning his skin.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, what the—"

Immediately, the barista's hands were cupping his with a napkin, mumbling an apology as he tried to dab the hot coffee away. He pulled the cup out of Judai's hands to set it down on the counter.

"I'm sorry," the barista said again.

"It—it's fine, I just—should've grabbed it. Needed to wake up anyway, you know, and—"

He finally looked up at the man who's hands hand stopped, still holding his, trembling against his palms.

Judai felt his heart jump up into his throat, closing it off. He couldn't speak.

He could only look right into his eyes— _Yusei's_ eyes.

The other young man's eyes were shining with tears.

"You can't really blame me for being shocked, right?" Yusei whispered. "Or maybe you can—maybe you don't—"

"Yusei," Judai whispered, and Yusei stopped talking, his mouth closing with a snap.

He pressed one hand to his mouth, the other still wrapped around Judai's.

"You remember," he whispered.

" _You_ remember," said Judai.

Yusei let out a soft, choked laugh. He took Judai's hand and pressed it against his face, eyes closing for a moment. This counter in between them was—was too much space. Judai didn't care if anyone in the shop was paying attention. He climbed up over the counter and landed on the other side so that he could wrap his free arm around Yusei's waist, press onto his tip toes so he could push his forehead against Yusei's.

"I came here to look for you," Judai whispered, feeling his voice crack. "I thought—"

"The stars," Yusei finished. "Draco is the most visible constellation from here. I knew it would bring you, if you remembered."

"How long have you been here?" Judai said.

"Three months."

"God, I've been here for six—how have we missed each other?"

Yusei answered by leaning down and kissing Judai full on the lips. Judai melted up into that kiss, his arms wrapping around Yusei's shoulders and pulling him closer, as though he could make them one being, one soul in that moment.

They broke away as one, foreheads still touching.

"You remember everything?" Yusei said.

"All of it—the dragons, the pirates, the college courses, the festivals, that one weird one I swore I made up with all the steampunk shit…"

"I thought I made that one up too," Yusei laughed.

Judai took Yusei's hand to press it against his cheek, to feel the warmth there.

"They say when a dragon falls in love, its soul becomes mortal," he whispered.

"To follow the one that it loves, until both souls can meet again and remember," Yusei said back.

"Was it you or me that started putting our memories into the constellation?" Judai said.

"I think it was both of us," Yusei said, caressing Judai's cheek. "Because we always knew—all we had to do was follow the stars."

"And the other would be there waiting," Judai said.

There were no monsters, no dragons, no pirates, no secret agents. No adventures left, but for the adventures of two people in love, in an ordinary world, in an ordinary life.

It was quiet in the tiny coffee shop where they finally met for the last time.

And Draco sparkled, watching, as always. The constellation of two hearts, finally beating together.

* * *

 _Every life with you was worth it._

 _Every single one._

 _At the end of this last one, let's go together. Let's go together, and find what lies on the other side of our constellation._

 _The stars have never failed us._

 _And we will follow them to the other side. Together, hand in hand, forever._

 _It was worth the fight to find you._


End file.
